2010 Gift GuideOh the perfect gift! It's easy to find right? (Insert record screech here). Well no, not exactly.Rocky Mountain Institute - Driving the Efficient Use of ResourcesCreating Better Buildings Achieving deeper levels of energy savings will require a scaling up of investment in energy efficiency. RMI’s new practice guide on how to calculate and present value from deep energy retrofits can help drive that investment.

E. F. SchumacherErnst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher (16 August 1911 – 4 September 1977) was an internationally influential economic thinker, statistician and economist in Britain, serving as Chief Economic Advisor to the UK National Coal Board for two decades.[1] His ideas became popularized in much of the English-speaking world during the 1970s. He is best known for his critique of Western economies and his proposals for human-scale, decentralized and appropriate technologies. According to The Times Literary Supplement, his 1973 book Small Is Beautiful: a study of economics as if people mattered is among the 100 most influential books published since World War II,[2] and was soon translated into many languages, bringing him international fame.Let It Shine: The First Solar Steam Engine - Renewable EnergyThe following post summarizes the author’s Chapter 7 of Let It Shine: The 6,000-Year Story of Solar Energy. Alarmed by the prodigious amount of coal consumed as the industrial revolution moved forward, a French mathematics professor, Augustine Mouchot, warned in 1860 that “Eventually industry will no longer find in Europe the resources to satisfy its prodigious expansion…Coal will undoubtedly be used up” He then asked, “What will industry do then?” It must “reap the rays of the sun,” the French professor concluded. The First Solar Machines Mouchot first studied what had already been done in times past to put solar energy to use. Mouchot discovered many fascinating solar machines built over the millennia, beginning with a sun-run siphon developed by Hero of Alexandria in the first-century BCE.

Peak Oil and the Financial Crisis: Where do Oil Prices Fit In? at Oil PriceThe Financial Times and Wall Street Journal have gone into full crisis mode with live blogs continuously reporting unfolding events. Equity markets are falling and London oil prices have been flirting with $100 a barrel for the first time since February. Talk of recessions, depressions, and even collapse of the euro zone is everywhere. There seems to be general agreement that a Greek debt default is inevitable. This is to be followed by insolvency of many European banks, which in turn will lead to the possibility of debt defaults by Italy and Spain. These countries, of course, are too big to be bailed out by the rest of EU, which is what has everybody worried.

Why Cleaned Wastewater Stays Dirty In Our MindsCo-mingling treated, cleaned wastewater with a natural water supply is one way to remove the psychological contagion from sewage water. "It's an identity issue, not a contents issue," says psychologist Carol Nemeroff. Above, Multnomah Falls in Oregon.The Kayapo Indians' Struggle in BrazilJanuary 2004 The Kayapo Indians’ Struggle in Brazil The Kayapó get settled at a rally against a dam on the Xingu River, Brazil. Photo: International Rivers.

Oil Spill Disaster on New Zealand Shoreline - Alan Taylor - In FocusNine days ago, a Liberian-flagged container ship called the Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef, 14 miles offshore from Tauranga Harbor on New Zealand's North Island. In addition to the 2,100 containers aboard, the Rena was carrying 1,700 tons of fuel oil and another 200 tons of diesel fuel. A cracked hull and rough seas have dislodged more than 80 containers and spilled some 300 tons of oil already, fouling Tauranga beaches and reportedly killing some 1,000 birds so far.

Absorption refrigeratorAn absorption refrigerator is a refrigerator that uses a heat source (e.g., solar, kerosene-fueled flame, waste heat from factories or district heating systems) to provide the energy needed to drive the cooling system. In the early years of the twentieth century, the vapor absorption cycle using water-ammonia systems was popular and widely used, but after the development of the vapor compression cycle it lost much of its importance because of its low coefficient of performance (about one fifth of that of the vapor compression cycle). Nowadays, the vapor absorption cycle is used only where waste heat is available or where heat is derived from solar collectors. Absorption refrigerators are a popular alternative to regular compressor refrigerators where electricity is unreliable, costly, or unavailable, where noise from the compressor is problematic, or where surplus heat is available (e.g., from turbine exhausts or industrial processes, or from solar plants). Absorption Principles[edit]